December 24th 11Am EST
by Glassh0use 0phelia
Summary: Simone Grey becomes the roommate of Roger and Mark.  Contains themes from both original motion picture  movie  and original broadway musical.
1. Chapter 1

December 24th, 9:30Am EST

Simone Grey shivered, feeling the cold December morning's drafts nipping at her. She had just been turned away from a couple who were looking for a roommate, the sixth time that month to be exact. She opened the newspaper, looking for another ad about becoming a roommate, to her delight she spotted one immediately.

* * *

Mark stumbled out of his bedroom, fully dressed, ready to head out to shoot some footage for his movie. He and Roger have had no luck looking for a roommate, they had interviewed people of all types, but he hadn't trusted anyone so far.  
"Roger, I'm going out shooting!" Mark shouted to the guitar playing man, still in his room. Mark received a sleepy response of "Be back soon, someone just called about being a roommate, she'll be around at about 11, don't ruin this one!"  
Mark rolled his eyes as he left the loft, down the stairs and out on to the sidewalk. After a good half hour of shooting he adventured into the park, hoping to get some footage worth something. He scanned the area, his eyes watching behind his glasses. His eyes rested on a girl, no not a girl, a young woman, no more than maybe 19 years of age. She was small and shivered as she tried to huddle up in her thin coat.  
Sandy Blonde hair fell to her upper-middle back; Green eyes were framed by a light dust of black eye shadow. After about fifteen minutes of him watching her, he got up and walked back to the loft, where Roger was waiting outside.

"Roger? What are you doing?" Mark cautiously questioned.  
"I'm waiting for the girl to get here, if you remember right, our buzzer is broken…" Roger teased.  
After about ten minutes a young woman walked up to them  
"Excuse me, are you Roger Davis and Mark Cohen?" She asked.  
Mark looked up, and then was surprised that she was the woman from the park. He was speechless.  
Roger wasn't, however. "Yes! I'm Roger, this is Mark! Please come inside, we can show off the loft and discuss things like that."

* * *

Roger led Simone in and up the stairs. "This is the loft!" Simone walked in and looked around before smiling. "I like it here already; it reminds me of my grandmother's attic. I loved it there"  
"So, how do you want to discuss paying rent?" Mark suspiciously asked.  
Simone smiles, " I have a great job, I write poetry and my poems have been published in magazines and some books too"  
"Can you pay 100 dollars a month?" Mark teased. "I could pay much more than that, My Aunt Alison helped me get my job" She recited.  
"Alison Grey-Coffin? Of the Westport Greys? Isn't that Benny's Wife?" Mark skeptically questioned.  
"Yeah, I think it is. Mark, can I talk to you?" Roger whispered. "Is anything wrong? Did I ruin yet another opportunity?" Simone worriedly questioned.  
"You have the position"  
"What?" Roger asked of Mark's quick decision  
Simone was filled with glee  
"We'll get along fine"


	2. Chapter 2

December 24th 9pm EST  
"December Twenty-Fourth, Nine PM, Eastern Standard Time, From here on in. I shoot without a script. See if anything comes of it, Instead of my old crud… First shot – Roger, Tuning the Fender guitar, He hasn't played in a year." Mark narrated as he filmed. Simone giggled, having just finished unpacking. "This won't tune" Roger complained. "So we hear… He's just coming back", Mark narrating again, "From half a year of withdrawal". "For Real?" Simone asked, amazed. "Are you talking to me?". Mark Smiled, "Not at all. Are you ready? Hold that focus – steady… Tell the folks at home what you're doing Roger ...", "I'm writing one great song-"

The phone started ringing. "Saved!"  
"We screen! Zoom in on the answering machine!" Mark narrated  
Mark and Roger's normal message was changed to include Simone, "Speak!" The Machine beeped  
Mark's mother was calling, "That was a very loud beep,I don't even know if this is working! Mark - Mark - are you there? Who was that girl? Are you screening your calls - It's mom! We wanted to call and say we love you…And we'll miss you tomorrow. Cindy and the kids are here - send their love, Oh, I hope you like the hot plate! Just don't leave it on, dear…When you leave the house! Oh, and Mark, We're sorry to hear that Maureen dumped you. I say c'est la vie! So let her be a lesbian... There are other fishies in the sea... Love Mom!"  
"What a lovely mother you have " Simone commented.

"Tell the folks at home what you're doing Roger" Mark teased  
"I'm writing one great song –", The phone rings again "Yesss!"  
**"**We screen."  
**"**Speak!" The answering machine sounded  
Across the street, Tom Collins stood at the pay phone.  
"Chestnuts roasting -"  
Mark quickly picked up the phone, "Collins!"  
"I'm downstairs! Who's the girl on the message?"  
"Hey, She's our new roommate!" Mark teased  
Collins sounded surprised, "Roger picked up the phone?"  
"No, it's me."  
"Throw down the key." Collins shouted.  
Simone runs to the fire escape and tosses the key to Collins, "Hello!"  
Mark joins her on the fire escape, "A wild night is now pre-ordained"  
They walk back inside.

Two thugs walk up to Collins, who says into the phone, "I may be detained."  
Collins runs as the thugs chase him into an ally and beat him  
"What does he mean...?"  
The phone rings again

Benny is in his car, on the phone, "Ho ho ho."  
"Benny! Crap." Roger cried.  
"Hi, Uncle Benny!" Simone asserted  
"You live with them now, Simone? I'm on my way"  
"Great! Crap." Roger and Mark sighed  
"I need the rent" Benny complained  
"What rent?" Mark questioned  
"This past year's rent which I let slide"  
"Let slide? You said we were 'golden'" Mark complained.  
"When you bought the building" Roger protested  
"When we were roommates" Mark asserted  
"Remember - you lived here!" Roger practically screamed  
"Boys!" Simone tried to calm them  
"How could I forget? You, me, Collins and Maureen. How is the drama queen?"

"She's performing tonight" Mark Revealed  
"I know… Still her production manager?"  
"Two days ago I was bumped" Mark cried.  
"You still dating her?"  
"Last month I was dumped" Mark cried again  
"She's in love" Mark teasingly remarked  
"She's got a new man?"  
"Well – no" Mark confessed  
"What's his name?"

Roger and Mark sighed, "Joanne".  
"Rent, my amigos, is due, Or I will have to evict you! Be there in a few. Bye Simone"

Roger defiantly picks out Musetta's theme from Puccini's La Boheme on the electric guitar. The fuse blows on the amp.  
Mark sighed, "The power blows ..."

"How do you document real life, When real life is getting more Like fiction each day" Mark Sang, "Headlines - bread-lines… Blow my mind, And now this deadline! 'Eviction - or pay' Rent!"  
Roger tried to play the guitar"How do you write a song, When the chords sound wrong! Though they once sounded right and rare… When the notes are sour, Where is the power you once had to ignite the air  
"And we're hungry and frozen!" Mark howled  
"Some life that we've chosen" Roger sighed  
Roger, Simone and Mark sang together. "How we gonna pay, How we gonna pay, How we gonna pay, Last year's rent"  
"We light candles" Mark and Simone sang  
"How do you start a fire, When there's nothing to burn, And it feels like something's stuck in your flue" Roger sang.  
"How can you generate heat  
When you can't feel your feet"  
Simone sang suddenly** "**And they're turning blue!"  
"You light up a mean blaze"  
Roger grabs one of his own posters. _"_With posters –"  
Mark grabs old manuscripts. "And screenplays"  
Roger, Mark and Simone sang again, "How we gonna pay, How we gonna pay, How we gonna pay, Last year's rent!"

Joanne Jefferson was across the street, on the phone_, "_Don't scream, Maureen! It's me – Joanne, Your substitute production manager! Hey hey hey! Did you eat? Don't change the subject, Maureen. But darling - you haven't eaten all day. You won't throw up! You won't throw up! The digital delay - Didn't blow up …exactly… There may have been one teeny tiny spark! You're not calling Mark!  
In the ally, Collins laid on the ground, "How do you stay on your feet, When on every street It's 'trick or treat' And tonight it's 'trick'! 'Welcome back to town'… Oh, I should lie down! Everything's brown and uh – oh! I feel sick  
Mark was at the window, "Where is he?"  
"Getting Dizzy!" Collins collapses  
"How we gonna pay, How we gonna pay, How we gonna pay, Last year's rent"

Benny was in his Range Rover, "Alison baby - you sound sad  
I don't believe those two after everything I've done  
Ever since our wedding I'm dirt - They'll see  
I can help them all out in the long run.  
Simone is living with them…"

Mark, reading from a script page, "The music ignites the night with passionate fire"  
Joanne was still talking to "Maureen - I'm not a theatre person"  
Roger read, "The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit"  
Joanne sighed, "Could never be a theatre person"  
Mark narrated, "Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground  
Joanne was surprised, "Hello?"  
Mark and Roger sang, "And feel the heat of the future's glow"  
"Hello? Maureen?" Joanne was nervous  
The Phone in the loft rang  
Mark answers,_ "_Hello? Maureen?-Your equipment won't work? Okay, all right, I'll go!"  
Simone sighed.

Mark and Various people sang, "How do you leave the past behind, When it keeps finding ways to get to your heart. It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out…Till you're torn apart! Rent!"  
Roger and Other People sang,"How can you connect in an age Where strangers, landlords, lovers, Your own blood cells betray!"  
Everyone sang, "What binds the fabric together, When the raging, shifting winds of change Keep ripping away!"  
Benny arrives**, **"Draw a line in the sand, And then make a stand"  
Roger turns to Mark, "Use your camera to spar"  
Mark teased,"Use your guitar"  
Everyone sang again,"When they act tough - you call their bluff"  
Various People sang, "We're not gonna pay,We're not gonna pay,We're not gonna pay!"  
Everyone shouted, "Last year's rent, This year's rent, Next year's rent, Rent rent rent rent rent, We're not gonna pay rent!"  
Simone Screamed, "'Cause everything is rent!"

Drag Queen, Angel Dumott Schunard is walking with a plastic pickle tub  
A Homeless Man walks by,"Christmas bells are ringing, Christmas bells are ringing, Christmas bells are ringing, Somewhere else! Not here!"  
Angel gets a good beat going on the tub, but is interrupted by a sound. She/he starts to drum again and sees Collins on the ground, She walks over  
Angel helps him up, "You okay honey?"  
Collins sighs, "I'm afraid so"  
Angel smiles,"They get any money?"  
Collins sounded sheepish, "No, Had none to get - But they purloined my coat - Well they missed a sleeve! – Thanks"  
Angel flirted, "Heck, its Christmas Eve… I'm Angel"  
Collins smiled, "Angel..? Indeed. An angel of the first degree! Friends call me Collins - Tom Collins, Nice tree ..."  
Angel sings, "Let's get a band-aid for your knee, I'll change, there's a "Life Support" meeting at nine-thirty. Yes - this body provides a comfortable home For the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome"  
Collins sang,"As does mine"  
Angel smiled, "We'll get along fine. Get you a coat, have a bite, Make a night - I'm flush  
Collins sounded sheepish, "My friends are waiting –"  
Angel smirked, "You're cute when you blush! The more the merri - ho ho ho… And I do not take no"

Mark got ready to leave the loft  
Roger looked up, "Where are you going?"  
"Maureen calls..."  
"You're such a sucker!" Roger retorted  
Simone sighed, "Can I go?"  
"Sure" Mark turns to Roger, "I don't suppose you'd like to see her show in the lot tonight? Or come to dinner?"  
"Zoom in on my empty wallet."  
Mark sighed, "Touché. Take your AZT." He narrated, "Close on Roger. His girlfriend April Left a note saying "We've got AIDS", Before slitting her wrists in the bathroom. I'll check up on you later. Change your mind. You have to get out of the house.  
He and Simone walk out  
"I'm writing one great song before I..."


	3. Chapter 3

Roger leaves the loft and walks to the roof with his guitar, he starts playing. "One song, Glory. One song Before I go, Glory. One song to leave behind, Find one song. One last refrain, Glory, From the pretty boy front man, Who wasted opportunity. One song, He had the world at his feet, Glory In the eyes of a young girl, A young girl. Find glory, Beyond the cheap colored lights. One song Before the sun sets. Glory - on another empty life, Time flies - time dies… Glory - One blaze of glory! One blaze of glory - glory. Find…Glory, In a song that rings true. Truth like a blazing fire, An eternal flame. Find, One song, A song about love. Glory, From the soul of a young man, A young man. Find, The one song, Before the virus takes hold. Glory, Like a sunset. One song, To redeem this empty life… Time flies And then - no need to endure anymore… Time dies"  
Roger walks back down to the loft, after that there was a knock on the door._  
_"The door"

* * *

Roger sighed, and answered "What'd you forget?"  
Mimi entered, holding a candle and looking for a match  
"Got a light?"  
"I know you? - You're - You're shivering" He looked worried  
"It's nothing, They turned off my heat. And I'm just a little weak on my feet. Would you light my candle? What are you staring at?"  
Roger looked away, "Nothing, Your hair in the moonlight… You look familiar" He lights her candle, then when Mimi starts to leave she stumbles, "Can you make it?"  
"Just haven't eaten much today, At least the room stopped spinning. Anyway. What?"  
Roger looked sheepish, "Nothing, Your smile reminded me of –"  
"I always remind people of - who is she?"  
"She died", Roger confessed, "Her name was April"  
Mimi discreetly blows out the candle.  
"It's out again, Sorry about your friend…Would you light my candle?"  
Roger lights the candle. They linger, awkwardly.  
"Well –"Roger lingered  
"Yeah. Ow!"  
"Oh, the wax - it's –"Roger was cut off  
"Dripping! I like it - between my –"  
"Fingers, I figured... Oh, well. Goodnight." Roger smiles

Mimi walks out. Roger heads back toward his guitar on the table. There was another knock on the door, he answered it._ "_It blew out again?"  
"No - I think that I dropped my stash" She was nervous  
"I know I've seen you out and about, When I used to go out. Your candle's out"  
Mimi sighed, "I'm illin' - I had it when I walked in the door, It was pure. Is it on the floor?"  
"The floor?"  
Mimi gets down on all fours and starts searching the floor for her stash. She looks back at Roger, who is staring at her again, "They say I have the best ass below 14th street  
Is it true?"  
"What?"  
"You're staring again" she smirked  
"Oh no. I mean you do - have a nice -I mean - You look familiar"  
"Like your dead girlfriend?" Mimi guessed  
"Only when you smile. But I'm sure I've seen you somewhere else –"  
"Do you go to the Cat Scratch Club? That's where I work - I dance - help me look" She whined  
"Yes! They used to tie you up –"  
"It's a living" Mimi douses the flame again  
"I didn't recognize you. Without the handcuffs"  
"We could light the candle! Oh won't you light the candle?" She watched as Roger lit the candle  
"Why don't you forget that stuff?" He tried to persuade, "You look like you're sixteen"  
"I'm nineteen - but I'm old for my age… I'm just born to be bad"  
Roger smirked, "I once was born to be bad. I used to shiver like that"  
"I have no heat - I told you"  
"I used to sweat" He continued  
"I got a cold"  
"Uh huh", He pushed on further, "I used to be a junkie"  
"But now and then I like to –"  
Roger was sarcastic, "Uh huh"  
"Feel good"  
"Here it - um –" Roger stops and picks up Mimi's stash.  
"What's that?"  
"It's a candy bar wrapper", Roger puts it behind his back and into his pocket.  
"We could light the candle"  
Roger discreetly blows out the candle.  
"What'd you do with my candle?"  
He smirked, "That was my last match"  
"Our eyes'll adjust, thank God for the moon"  
"Maybe it's not the moon at all. I hear Spike Lee's shooting down the street" He joked  
"Bah humbug ... Bah humbug" Mimi places her hand under his, pretending to do it by accident.  
"Cold hands"  
Mimi smiled, "Yours too. Big. Like my father's, You wanna dance?"  
"With you?"  
"No - with my father" she teased.  
"I'm Roger"  
"They call me…They call me… Mimi" she sang.  
They come extremely close to a kiss. Mimi reaches into his pocket, nabs the stash, waves it in front of his face, and makes her exit.

* * *

The phone in Maureen and Joanne's Apartment rings:  
"Hi. You've reached Maureen and Joanne. Leave a message and don't forget "Over the Moon" - My performance, protesting the eviction of the Homeless (and artists) from the Eleventh Street Lot. Tonight at midnight in the lot between A and B. Party at Life Cafe to follow "  
Mr. Jefferson ,Joanne's father, was calling, "Well, Joanne - We're off, I tried you at the office, And they said you're stage managing or something"  
"Remind her that those unwed mothers in Harlem  
Need her legal help too" Mrs. Jefferson asserted.  
"Call Daisy for our itinerary or Alfred at Pound Ridge  
Or Eileen at the state department in a pinch  
We'll be at the spa for new year's  
Unless the senator changes his mind"  
"The hearings" Mrs. Jefferson insisted  
"Oh yes – Kitten, Mummy's confirmation hearing begins on the tenth. We'll need you - alone - by the sixth"  
"Harold!" Mrs. Jefferson screeched  
"You hear that? It's three weeks away…And she's already nervous!"  
"I am not!" Mrs. Jefferson whined  
**"**For Mummy's sake, Kitten, No Doc Martens this time and wear a dress ...Oh, and Kitten - have a merry"  
"And a bra!" Mrs. Jefferson asserted.

* * *

Tom Collins walks in to The Loft, computer genius, teacher, vagabond anarchist, who ran naked through the Parthenon, he is.  
Collins carries Angel's pickle tub, now filled with provisions_._

"Bustelo , Marlboro, Banana by the bunch. A box of Captain Crunch will taste so good" Mark and Simone sang  
"And firewood" Collins smiled  
"Look - it's Santa Claus" Mark joked  
"Hold your applause" Collins waved at Roger  
"Oh hi" Roger said trying to tune the guitar again  
"'Oh hi' after seven months?" Collins complained  
"Sorry" Roger said sheepishly  
"This boy could use some Stoli" Collins smirked as he poured Roger a drink  
"Oh holy night" They all sang as Simone downed a cup of vodka.  
"Girl can hold her drinks" Collins commented.  
"You struck gold at MIT?" Roger turned to Collins  
"They expelled me for my theory of Actual Reality, Which I'll soon impart To the couch potatoes at New York University. Still haven't left the house?" Collins teased  
"I was waiting for you, don't you know?" Roger teased back  
"Well, tonight's the night! Come to the Life Cafe after Maureen's show" Collins stated  
"No flow" Roger confessed  
"Lady and Gentlemen, our benefactor on this Christmas Eve, Whose charity is only matched by talent, I believe. A new member of the Alphabet City avant-garde, Angel Dumott Schunard!

Angel sashays in. She/He's gorgeously done up in Santa drag, with a fan of twenty-dollar bills in each hand. "Today for you - tomorrow for me, Today for you - tomorrow for me"  
"And you should hear her beat!" Collins smiled  
"You earned this on the street?" Mark seemed surprised.  
"It was my lucky day today on Avenue A  
When a lady in a limousine drove my way  
She said, "Darling - be a dear - haven't slept in a year  
I need your help to make my neighbor's yappy dog disappear"  
"This Akita-Evita just won't shut up  
I believe if you play non-stop that pup  
Will breathe its very last high-strung breath  
I'm certain that cur will bark itself to death"  
Today for you - tomorrow for me  
Today for you - tomorrow for me  
We agreed on a fee - A thousand dollar guarantee  
Tax-free - and a bonus if I trim her tree  
Now who could foretell that it would go so well  
But sure as I am here that dog is now in doggy hell  
After an hour - Evita - in all her glory  
On the window ledge of that 23rd story  
Like Thelma & Louise did when they got the blues  
Swan dove into the courtyard of the Gracie Mews  
Today for you - tomorrow for me  
Today for you - tomorrow for me"

Angel does a fabulous drum and dance solo.  
"Then back to the street where I met my sweet  
Where he was moaning and groaning on the cold concrete  
The nurse took him home for some mercurochrome  
And I dressed his wounds and got him back on his feet  
Sing it!  
Today for you - tomorrow for me  
Today for you - tomorrow for me  
Today for you - tomorrow for me  
Today for you - tomorrow for me"


End file.
